Dust surged skyward, blotting out the sun. In the Moriyama estate's courtyard, a dead silence fell.
Not only the Moriyama clan head and the relatives behind him—several other invited nobles also stared wide-eyed, a chill crawling up the backs of their necks.
In their minds, Takeda Satoru, as a Gotei 13 captain, was unquestionably among the strongest in Soul Society.
And yet this "top-tier" existence had just been brimming with confidence, ready to grind the intruder into dust.
Before he even finished speaking, he was sent flying by a single slash.
Humiliation, pure and simple.
Boom!
From the rubble, a heavy Reiatsu erupted like an overturned sea. A massive pillar of light shot into the heavens as dust and debris swirled in a violent gale.
Takeda blasted the stones off his body and stepped out of the wreckage. His expression had been cold before—now it contained not a shred of warmth.
Killing intent spread through the manor like fog, making scalps prickle.
No more talking.
Takeda's intent to kill burned to the extreme. He raised the heavy long blade—transparent like crystal—and the ground beneath his feet shuddered.
Dust rose with every step he took, caught in the wind and spinning wildly.
In the blink of an eye, Takeda vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already within arm's reach.
His Zanpakutō lifted high. Sunlight passed through the clear blade and scattered into dazzling, multicolored brilliance.
Reiatsu vibrated. Air thickened.
Pure destruction condensed on that thin edge and—without mercy—
Came down.
Facing that suffocating strike, Naraku didn't retreat in the slightest. Instead he roused his Reiatsu—scorching wind exploding outward.
Muscle and fascia trembled. His fingers clenched tight, hips twisting—power erupting around that axis like a detonation.
A perfect arc of light bloomed along his blade, and the roar of turning gears seemed to echo through the sword's cry.
Secret Technique: Dragon Flash!
It was the sword technique he'd pulled from those two Adjuchas in Reviving Hell, and its effect was brutally simple: compress all power into the blade.
When the cut is released, the Reiatsu riding the edge becomes a terrifying sword-pressure that can cleave anything.
Just like now.
At the instant the blades collided, metal screamed and shock boomed across the courtyard.
Takeda stared into the young face inches away. Poisonous hatred nearly solidified in his eyes, murderous intent bearing down on Naraku with no attempt at concealment.
The moment Takeda sensed Aizen's Reiatsu, he'd drawn a line connecting the ambusher to the boy in front of him.
First, he fought Naraku at the Yokota estate. Then he reported to Tsunayashiro. Then he was ambushed by an unknown attacker. Then there was Shutara Senjumaru in the manor, backing Naraku up.
It made him wonder: who the hell was this boy?
How did he have so many absurdly powerful allies?
But none of that mattered.
Kill the brat first.
The thought flashed by, and Takeda's hatred turned into fuel. Violent Reiatsu flooded down, as if to grind Naraku into nothing.
The next moment—
A shattering sword-pressure erupted from the blood-red blade, surging forward and ripping apart everything ahead in a rotten-wood sweep.
Takeda's pupils shrank. He burst into an extreme-speed Shunpo; his figure blurred as the sword-pressure arrived, leaving behind an afterimage that was cleanly cut in half.
Neat as a hot knife through butter.
Half a captain's haori drifted down through the air, followed by thick crimson liquid that painted the cracked ground anew.
Takeda's face darkened like stagnant water. With one hand holding his blade, he tried to use healing Kidō to seal the damage at his waist.
How long had it been?
A seated officer Shinigami he could once crush at will had now grown into a monster capable of threatening his life.
Takeda remembered clearly: at the Yokota manor, Naraku's Reiatsu had only been Grade 5.
Yet in just a few days, Naraku had not only broken into Grade 4—his performance was far beyond what that rank should allow.
He wasn't just a newly risen genius anymore. He felt like a captain-class Shinigami who could stand toe-to-toe with Takeda in a direct clash.
And Naraku's techniques were even stranger this time.
Their blades were locked together, power and Reiatsu grinding into each other—and yet Naraku could still fire off a savage sword-pressure at point-blank range.
If Takeda hadn't dodged in time, the one cut in half wouldn't have been an afterimage.
"I'll admit it."
Takeda slowly straightened. The wound had closed for now. In his cold eyes, a faint kaleidoscopic glow stirred from the agitation of Reiatsu.
"In my current condition, it's difficult to take you down."
"But Shinigami battles aren't decided by basic Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō alone."
"The true deciding factor is—"
"Bankai!"
"Saga Miitsu!"
Takeda flipped his wrist and drove the crystal blade toward the ground. A towering pillar of Reiatsu erupted upward, forming a suffocating vortex above the courtyard.
Crystals burst out of the earth everywhere, instantly constructing a dazzling, multicolored world.
"This time, no one is coming to save you."
His indifferent eyes looked down at Naraku like a real god passing judgment.
He raised his hand. Countless crystals condensed into long spears shining with cold light, their tips aimed at Naraku.
Then, without hesitation, they poured down like a storm.
Absolute destruction swallowed the courtyard. Continuous explosions hammered the earth until it groaned, and dust surged into the sky.
Even when the dust completely buried Naraku, the woman who haunted Takeda's nightmares still hadn't appeared.
Takeda let out a small breath.
If he had to choose, the shadow Shutara Senjumaru cast was far more terrifying than Aizen's.
Even now, he still didn't understand what had happened that day.
But just as he thought it was finally over, scorching heat flared up from within the smoke.
Takeda's pupils tightened.
Only then did he realize the fatal oversight he'd made during today's fight.
"Ten trillion kalpas—Punishment of Jaya!"
From within the churning dust came the release chant.
Violent Reiatsu flames shattered the surrounding crystals, and a blazing "sun" rose from the courtyard—its light reflected and refracted by the crystal world into something even more dazzling.
In the crater, Naraku stood with sword in hand, flashing a feral grin at the "god" in the sky.
"Now it's my turn!"
~~~
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